Preparation 'H'

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by Rick Beneteau

Temporary Relief from the Pain and Discomfort of Internet Business

The prognosis is bleak. The disease is too new. The contagious malady of trying to make money on the Internet is infecting thousands daily with no real cure on the horizon. The opportunity is too great, the market too vast and the pioneering spirit is alive and well in cyber-land.

But let's be really honest folks, and admit that most of us are bewildered at how to virtually promote our business. The reality is that there are too few people making a decent living on the Internet. And while we're at it, let's get rid of the notion that there are any true marketing "gurus" out there with all the answers. Some of us have just spent more time and money trying to figure out how to tame this monster we call the World Wide Web. I am one of those people but would never refer to myself as an expert. Just someone who is trying very hard and learning what, and what not, to do.

So in that spirit I will retain the "medicinal" flavor of this article and be, for the sake of interest, a Marketing Doctor (MD). You have an appointment with me in my cyber-clinic and it's up to you to listen and weigh what I have to offer. I will try to provide symptomatic relief for those just coming down with the fever as well as for those who've been bitten by this bug for a while but who still suffer from the throbbing pain of doing business on the Internet.

I am prescribing Preparation "H".

The "H" is for the Help I will try to offer you Here. Hopefully, it will not stand for: "How" can you just sit there after reading this article with the thermometer still stuck up ....?" You get the point!

Ok, I'm itching to get going!

Here are the results of your Internet promotion checkup:

Your Website

Warning: your prospect has an average attention span of 10-20 seconds.

Your website is no doubt your primary sales tool. For most of us, the one-and-only-chance we have to capture the attention, and the interest, of the viewer. Fail to get their attention immediately and you might as well pick up a pen to write your business will.

Simple question: does your website sell? I mean, does it REALLY sell? Or (now think honestly here for a moment), is your site the cyber-version of the bow-tied, cigar-chomping "what will it take to put you into this beauty?" used car huckster? I mean the kind with large, bold, bright, dream-laden, hype-type-get-rich-rhetoric? I realize that some of you are beginning to get that pre-prostate examination feeling right now and that I risk offending you, but I'm just an insensitive doctor, right?

Those of us past this incubation period symptom and well on the road to recovery feature the benefits of our products or business in clear, concise fashion against a backdrop of tasteful, complimentary visuals. Flashy Java/Shock is not necessarily prescribed, just an appealing, friendly, easy-to-use sales-oriented approach.

If you KNOW you are currently sporting a less-than-professional website, hire a copywriter/webdesigner please. You've literally got 'seconds' to captivate the attention of a potential customer. Make the most of this small moment of time. Improving your website will be among the most important business decisions you will make.

Results: A website is the real world equivalent of a billboard. You can have the biggest and best billboard but if it stands on some little-traveled back road, you'd be further ahead using the lumber to keep warm in the winter.

So, we continue with how to bring traffic to your website.

The Power of Email

The same presentation rules above apply if you are using commercial email as the powerful promotional tool that it can be. However, this MD will drop you as a patient if you bulk spam (real world equivalent to guzzling a quart of Jack Daniels {not Jim} and smoking 3 packs a day). Spam is USEless!! Nearly every netizen detests it, legislators are creating laws against it and it has become a whole other pain in the rear. Nothing credible comes by way of spam anymore. Ironic as it is, NOBODY reads what you send anyway and all the while you are severely damaging what little reputation (life expectancy) you have left on the Net.

So, what is the answer? Opt-in email. In essence, people sign-up to receive certain kinds of promotional information so you are sending "solicited" advertising. I don't have enough time in your appointment to adequately review this professional application of email but there is a lot of information available in business ezines like the one you are reading. Get some back issues that deal with this subject and pull up some searches using "opt-in email" as your keyword. Spend quality time researching this targeted, effective advertising method. It's the only way to go with email!

Results: The proper application of opt-in email can dramatically increase your business.

Online Classified Ads

A placebo. Complete waste of a lot of precious time and often money. Most classified ad services are free but there's a very good reason. Pretty well the only people who visit these sites are the ill-informed who place their ads only to receive tons of junk mail from the spammers who harvest their email addresses from the fresh daily crop. I can honestly say that I've only made a handful of sales using classified ads and I couldn't begin to account for all the time I spent surgically placing them. Live and learn.

Results: Forget this sugar pill!

Free-for-All-Link Sites

Surfer havens, but heck, surfers can be Internet consumers. So, visit some of these websites while taking the pulse of your average purchaser, and determine if FFA links could be an effective instant sales boost. You will need to create a catchy title for your link. Placing these links is almost as time consuming as classified ads so I recommend using one of the link submission services. Here, you can submit to hundreds of FFA links at a time with the press of a button in reasonably priced packages. But beware, put your fingers on the Ctrl and A keys (Select All) and get ready to delete the hundreds of hype autoresponses that immediately flood your inbox after submitting. Also, resubmit your links every couple of weeks as the links fall off these pages quite rapidly.

Results: FFA links will bring immediate traffic to your website and can boost sales if your product or business is applicable.

Banner Exchanges

Less effective as Internet time marches on but still can be worthwhile if you are already drawing moderate-to-high website traffic. The reason I say this is that these companies normally get their backs scrubbed twice for every time you suds them - a 2:1 ratio where for every 2 "hits" you send them, they send you one back. There are many banner exchanges/swaps out there so check around.

My personal viewpoint is that I don't want to send people "away" from my website after I've spent all kinds of time and money getting them there, so please give this approach some careful thought.

Results: If your site is slow, don't bother. I mention banner exchanges here because it's still a promotional mainstay on the Internet. If you want to keep viewers at your site, don't go there.

Search Engines

Oh boy! Medical opinion is still out on this one. I rarely search on them but I'm not the average netizen. All I have to do though is think of the millions of Net newcomers about to fire up their modems and browsers for the first time and know that they will head straight for the search engines to find out what this Internet thing is all about. Another all-day appointment to properly discuss this issue but here is an overview.

As in the case of opt-in email, you will need to research in ezines/newsletters like this one, participate in discussion groups and ironically search in the engines themselves for placement information before entering the operating room. Why?

Your efforts in this area will be wasted if you don't know what you're doing. The search engines change their "rules" like I change lab jackets, so if you can't stay informed, then hire a top surgeon. Anything less than a top 20 position won't heal what ails your business and it becomes almost a daily job to retain an in-the-first-two-pages-of-a-search position in the major engines.

The most important consideration of all, is how you set up your webpage in each engine. First, you have to sharply define your ultimate "searcher" and then, insert the appropriate keywords (words they will enter to search for websites/information like yours), metatags and descriptions, plus, follow the rules of submission in each major engine. No small task here my patients, so think long and hard about properly investing your time and resources or you might as well pull the plug before you even start this major surgery.

Results: You must be in the search engines with the millions of new people logging on to the Internet. Unless you have the time to learn the ever-changing trade secrets of search engine placement, hire someone who does. It will pay off for your business.

Your Own Newsletter

Ha! Music to my ears. The doc is dancin' now! Assuming you have even a small captive audience comprised of customers, downline, regular website visitors, family, friends and surfers, and, you can write a decent personal letter (even if you can't) - you have all the reasons you need to start your own newsletter.

Your topic? Why, it's them! Their needs, their wants, their interests. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them think and hopefully make them some money. Give them valuable information they can use in their lives and never, never use a hype approach and oversell you. A newsletter about industry trends in your type of business, advertising/marketing, motivation, humor, software, reviews, your hobby, your dog - whatever it takes to keep them reading and you in contact with them.

Some things to consider:

1. If you have a great newsletter concept but don't feel you have the knack to write it, hire a professional copywriter. Regardless, study all the newsletters/ezines you can get your hands on and become aware of the formats - email or html (web-based) - and the various newsletter structures - components, contents, length, classified advertising etc. Pay close attention to how they flow.

2. When your subscription base warrants, you can accept classified ads for an additional income stream but you can start with just one classified ad - yours! When the ads start coming in, do not place them at the beginning of your newsletter and make your readers sift through them to get to the "meat".

3. You can have your newsletter listed in all the ezine directories on the Internet, which are easily searchable. You will also want to place your newsletter, or at least a simple webpage describing it, in the search engines as well.

4. Include a "recommend-this-newsletter-to-a-friend" type blurb at the beginning and end of each issue and always, always put "remove" instructions.

5. If your newsletter is business oriented, there are many good article writers out there who would only be too happy to have you reprint their articles in trade for the bio/ad they include at the bottom of their piece. Contact them to send you to their database of articles and to request reprint rights.

6. You can start with a monthly publication and increase the frequency as your circulation rises.

I recently received a piece of software for start-up newsletters that is very informative. It's put out by fellow ezine owner/editor David Hallum of Mailbox News Online. You may download a copy at: www.mbn-businesscomplex.net/NewbieGuide.html

Results: Remember, the value of your newsletter is in subscriber list and many subscribers will become customers. Make your newsletter friendly, fun and full of useful information and you will be amazed at how quickly your newsletter subscriber base builds. Take the time to put out a quality publication.

Ezines

Above, we discussed starting your own newsletter. Now, we move on to advertising in other ezines to build your newsletter base and your business. Again, while at the ezine directories, check out the circulation and ad rates of the ezines that would best reach your target audience. Always request a free sample to ensure the quality of the writing and analyze the amount and nature of its advertising.

Your ad will have to be well written and hooky and you can promote both your business and your newsletter in the 25-30 words normally allowed.

Results: I can tell you from my experience that the best advertising by far I have done has come by way of the small bio/ad that I include in every business article I write. Thousands of hits have come my way via Zines so please do consider this avenue of promotion very carefully. It's one of the most effective ways to promote your business on the Internet.

Ok, time's up!

Our appointment is over and you now have the benefit of my "expert medical opinion" and I've written you my prescription, Preparation "H". But by all means, get second opinions and research wherever you can find expert advice. After all, it's your business we're discussing here!

One final question. Where's that thermometer now?